http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/14/wiran214.xml
Fury over Austrian 'super' rifles for Iranians By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent (Filed: 14/01/2006) Britain and America are furious with Austria for exporting to Iran 800 sniper rifles that could be used against their troops in Iraq. HS50 Steyr-Mannlicher .50 calibre rifles can pierce body armour from up to a mile, shoot down helicopters and penetrate Humvee troop carriers that have not been fully reinforced. The weapons are highly accurate and fire a round called an armour-piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture. There are fears in the Pentagon that some will reach insurgents fighting allied forces in Iraq. Iran's Revolutionary Guard is suspected of passing on bomb-making technology to Iraqi terrorists responsible for infra-red bombs that have killed 10 British soldiers. A Foreign Office spokesman said there were "serious concerns" over the rifle sale and London had protested to Vienna. "Although we did make our worries known, the sale has unfortunately gone ahead and these weapons could now fall into the wrong hands," he said. Iran allegedly bought the rifles to combat drug smugglers pouring through the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The order, worth an estimated £8 million, was placed with Steyr last year and the company was given government permission to export the weapons. A spokesman for Austria's interior ministry said there was no reason to stop the deal. Iran is said to be re-arming after a £455 million deal with Russia for missiles and radar to ward off any air strikes on its nuclear facilities. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
